


Let the Chips Fall Where They May

by potts89



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Pepperony - Freeform, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23562700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potts89/pseuds/potts89
Summary: “You have to talk to her, Tones ... Besides, don’t you think this break has already lasted longer than it should? When do you plan to see her and win her back?”“I don’t plan to.”“What do you mean you don't plan to?”“Pepper's lucky she escaped me.”Everyone’s always betting against Tony Stark, including Tony himself. But not Pepper, never Pepper.Takes place post-CACW and before Spider-Man Homecoming, when Tony and Pepper finally got things sorted out.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 85





	Let the Chips Fall Where They May

“Tones, what are you doing?” Rhodes asked as he tried to catch up with Tony shortly after finishing a call.

Tony regarded Rhodes with a look of complete resignation. Resignation over which particular aspect in the long list of the most recent events in his life, he had no idea anymore. Lately it felt as if his whole world was falling apart and control was nothing but a foreign idea. He felt as if he was drowning, suffocating, almost as if he never left that cave in Afghanistan after all.

Clutching a glass of whiskey in his hand, his third since they arrived in the casino less than an hour ago, he weaved through the similarly clad tuxedo-wearing crowd with Rhodes at his heels. He spotted the high-rollers section and sauntered over, placing a large stack of chips on the baccarat table.

“I’m drinking, Rhodey, hopefully to oblivion. And gambling. Or am I not obvious enough?”

“I know, but this isn’t you, buddy, at least not anymore.”

Who was he, really? That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? For one (and he wouldn’t even include ‘Ultron’s creator’ in the list because it was apparently an _old_ mistake of his, thank you very much), he was the guy who caused the Avengers to split after he backed the Accords. He was also the guy who fought with his best friend in Germany, the same best friend who almost ended up killed and practically paralyzed, only able to walk with the help of prosthetics. And while we’re on the subject of Germany, he was also the same guy who, many would say, _irresponsibly_ brought a fourteen year-old to an airport battle against two super soldiers, an assassin, an enhanced shooting scarlet energy projections, a guy who can grow and shrink at will, and a former pararescue. He was also the guy who single-handedly went toe-to-toe against two super soldiers – one of which killed his mom (allegedly while brainwashed, but who cares at this point really? Facts are facts, Barnes killed his mother) and the other, well, only the most self-righteous liar he has ever known – only to be left behind freezing and battered in Siberia. And then finally, finally, the mini-cherry on top of the regular cherry on top of the sundae of disaster that was his life lately, he’s still the same guy who, after all these years, will never, ever be deserving of Pepper Potts.

“Tones…”

He realized he had zoned out of the conversation, if it was because of the alcohol or the self-deprecation, he did not know anymore. He looked at his best friend and realized he could not even afford to cut himself some slack for having developed the cybernetic prosthetic legs which helped Rhodes walk. _Rhodey would not even be in this situation in the first place if not for me_ , he thought, _so no use giving myself a pat in the back for something I made partly to help ease my guilt._

“What do you want, Rhodey?”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course, I am. Always.”

Rhodes sighed in exasperation, an almost hurt expression on his face. “You know, Tones, it’s actually insulting if you think I’d believe that, so I’m gonna ask you one more time and this time you’re going to have to answer me honestly. What’s going on? Are you okay?”

Tony, for his part, decided to focus on anything except meeting Rhodes’s gaze. “Far from it,” he muttered almost inaudibly as he motioned to a waiter to have his drink refilled, fourth glass and counting, before mindlessly tossing a stack of chips on the table.

Rhodes bit his lip and carefully considered what he was going to say. In the end, he settled for the most basic truth, never mind if Tony believed it or not. “The Accords wasn’t your fault, Tony, and neither was my accident.”

A long pause, and Tony by being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal had made it plainly clear that he had no intention of acknowledging Rhodes’s statement, let alone pursuing the conversation. Rhodes then decided to switch tactics.

“Pepper called the other day, you know. Again. She’s worried about you, man. Why do you keep dodging her calls?”

Just as he predicted, that was enough to pique Tony’s interest and the latter could not help but ask, “Is she okay?”

Because if there was one thing that would always matter regardless if he was in the middle of a life-or-death situation or in a severe state of inebriation, it would always be Pepper’s safety; protecting the one thing he couldn’t live without, never mind the fact that they were already broken up.

“You have to talk to her, Tones,” Rhodes almost pleaded while Tony intentionally focused his attention on stacking his chips as the dealer flips up a pair of aces. “You’ve been avoiding her since you got back from Siberia. You cannot just repeatedly fly away in the suit every time she visits the compound unannounced. It’s not healthy, man. Besides, don’t you think this break has already lasted longer than it should? When do you plan to see her and win her back?”

“I don’t plan to.”

Rhodes just sat there looking at Tony dumbfoundedly. He had no idea which worried him more, the fact that Tony was really letting Pepper go, permanently this time, or the look in Tony’s face that he only saw once before – back in the Malibu mansion’s garage, with Tony seated on the Roadster a little bit more than five years ago when his friend was secretly fighting a losing battle against palladium toxicity. He was dying then, and maybe in some ways Tony’s dying again, too, right now.

“What do you mean you don’t plan to?”

Tony sighed deeply and diligently focused on the cards being dealt on the table; after all, the last thing he needed was to see the look on Rhodes’s face silently judging him for the choices he had been making about his relationship with Pepper. People would often say that Tony Stark had always been a selfish bastard, and while he would never deny that (that was true, anyway), there had always been one exception to that rule, and that's Pepper Potts. And if making the tough decision to let Pepper go – because for all his faults and attempts of redemption, he’s smart and mature enough to acknowledge that Pepper really deserved better – was not selfless enough, he sure as hell knew he did not have anything else to offer beyond that.

“Pepper’s lucky she escaped me.”

“Tones, you can’t seriously mean that,” and that was all Rhodes could silently offer. In the more than thirty years since he had first known Tony Stark, the only other time he had ever seen his best friend looked so broken was when Maria Stark died in that car accident almost twenty-five years ago (the accident had killed Howard too, but the strained relationship between father and son afforded Tony to mainly grieve for his mom). And now, seeing Tony struggle so badly after everything that happened in the last few weeks, it was a very painful sight to look at.

Emptying his fourth glass of whiskey and never tearing his gaze from the baccarat table, Tony solemnly replied, “As a matter of fact, I do. I do mean that. I am exactly everything my father said I was. I don’t deserve her, Rhodey, and no matter what I do or how many missions I fly, I’ll never be deserving of Pepper Potts.”

“Is there a seat available?”

Tony turned to look over his right shoulder to see Pepper Potts looking immaculate in a black, long-sleeved, sequined mini-dress, the color perfectly complementing her strawberry blonde hair that reached past her shoulders. He just sat there, completely speechless for once in his life, as his brain repeatedly processed the information that she was indeed there standing behind him.

“Yeah, take mine,” Rhodes offered and Pepper drifted towards the table to sit on Tony’s left.

“Thanks for the call,” she told Rhodes before the latter nodded and moved off to the bar to give the two the chance to talk.

Pepper began to place large stacks of chips on the table while Tony quietly stared at her. There were a lot of words that needed to be said, a lot of secrets to be told, a lot of apologies to be made, but he just could not find it in his heart to do so, not right now at least. Instead, he wanted to commit to memory the image of Pepper Potts sitting beside him probably for the last time, while he could, before he finally, finally, let her go. She deserved better, and the only thing he could brag about was that he’s man enough to know that and let her go.

“You know, you can pretend like you never get sad or hurt,” Pepper softly began, breaking the almost tangible impasse between them. “But I know better, and you, Tony Stark, are not your father.” She finally met his gaze and Tony realized that she had heard the last part of his confession to Rhodey. “You’re strong, you carry people. _You carry me_.” She smiled at him, gently cupping his cheek with her right hand. “You’re becoming a man in a way that your father never was, and I am so, so proud of you. Always have been, always will.”

Tony sat there gazing at the love of his life, the one woman he would be willing to go to hell and back for, the one person he knew could break his heart beyond repair and yet he would still choose to give it to her over and over, in this lifetime and the next. He leaned into the hand cupping his cheek as he silently murmured, “You don’t know the extent of the mistakes I made, Pep,” and broke away from her gaze, silently looking down out of shame.

“Tony, look at me.” Pepper moved her hand to his chin, effectively tilting his head up, forcing him to meet her gaze once more. “I don’t care even if you think it’s the worst thing you’ve ever done, or the darkest thought you’ve ever had. I will stand by you through anything.” Tony released a heavy sigh he did not realize he had been holding. “And I know you, Tony. You’re Tony Stark, you always, always look for other ways to solve things, and I don’t believe you made those ‘mistakes’ willingly. So the next time you forget you’re Tony Stark, remember I’m Pepper Potts and I love you.”

For once, Tony was not going to fight just to have the last word, so he simply took her hand and kissed her knuckles reverently before letting her hand go. There was no way Pepper would take him back after everything he had done and everything he had failed to do, and yet she’s here, unconditionally and irrevocably loving him. He watched as she neatly stacked her chips while the card dealer started a new deck.

“Pep, you know your world would be so much easier if I didn’t come back.”

“That’s true,” she smiled though, the kind that reached her eyes, the kind that he had been missing for a long time now, “But it wouldn’t be my world without you in it.”

He smiled in spite of himself, although he still needed to tell her the truth before they could even begin to move forward. “Pep, we’re never going to be safe. I’m worried that I’m never going to be able to stop,” the uncertainty evident in his voice.

“Maybe we won’t..." She paused for a moment, seemingly contemplating a realization that she had long been trying to come to terms with, but she smiled regardless of the thought. "You probably won’t. But you and I, Tony, we’re inevitable. And this time,” she made a move to push all her chips, placing her bet on Tony before returning his gaze, “I’m all in.”

*******

**Author's Note:**

> I was rewatching Gossip Girl (yes, Chuck & Blair) when the idea hit me and so I couldn't sleep. So this is somewhat inspired by the show's season four finale’s closing scene.


End file.
